Team Beachbody Guest

My transformation story started years ago with my very first home workout
video by Jane Fonda. I was 15 years old and after school my friend Kim and I
would meet at one of our houses dressed in our tights, leg warmers,
bodysuits and headbands and stick the tape in the Betamax ready to "Do
Jane", as we called it. This was the beginning of a long history of home
workout videos for me and boy how things have transformed.

I was a pretty active child growing up, spending every possible daylight hour
outside playing. My boundless energy never seemed to run out. I was in
gymnastics and dance for 10 years or so and was simply always on the go.

As I mentioned in my Bio, healthy eating and fitness have been pretty
consistent in my life, but there were a few years in my early twenties that I
was focused on other things and kind of got away from what I knew was best
for me. I was eating more junk food, not really getting much exercise and
partaking in a few too many parties.

At 21, I was introduced to a new series of home workout videos and I got
back on the right track with my eating and learned what to look for on
Nutrition Information labels. I was hooked and began to make major changes
in my lifestyle.

Throughout the next 8 years or so, I continued with this series and a pretty
healthy diet, "yo-yoing" a little bit from time to time when I would get bored
with the same thing all the time.

When I moved away from my hometown in 1998, I was introduced to yet
another home workout series. My library of videos was growing and had now
morphed into VHS tapes rather than Betamax. I still found myself bored at
times and I wanted a workout buddy. It was hard to find someone in my circle
that was willing to be as committed as I was or that was interested in
working out with weights.

I joined a gym. This wasn't the first time I was convinced that joining a gym
was the answer to my boredom, and it wouldn't be the last. But the truth was
that I got better results at home with the videos and I didn't like the "posing"
aspects that seemed to be a factor at most gyms. I was serious and didn't
want to have to look "pretty" to workout. Plus...it's cheaper at home and didn't
include commute time. You can just roll out of bed and push play.

I quit the gym and finally found a groove with my tapes and a new friend,
that became my running partner. For the better part of five years, I ate a
vegetarian diet, ran 3 miles a day and pushed play 5-6 days a week. I was
really happy and felt great.

In late 2002, after 3 years of a long distance relationship, I moved again to be
with my then boyfriend, now husband, Mike. My life now included someone
else on a daily basis and my workout schedule wasn't as easy to manage. It
was hit or miss for the next several years with my workouts and my diet was
not nearly as good either. I felt out of balance. We moved two more times
with his job, finally settling in California in the spring of 2005.

I was frustrated with yet another gym and its empty promises and the lack of
someone who shares my passion for health and fitness, when my cousin told
me to check out the message boards on the Beachbody website. He assured
me that I could find what I was looking for there. Knowing that I liked
working out with videos at home, he gave me P90X and told me to give it a
try. His name is Mason Bendewald and he was the Director for the P90X
videos.

The rest is history! Since then, I have acquired nearly all of the BB series. My
BB collection of videos is now larger than all of my other series put together
and it is all in DVD format. :)

Last spring Mason was hired by BB to Produce and Direct the recently released
P90X+ and the Ten Minute Trainer series. I was given the incredible
opportunity of helping him on the set and in the process got to meet and
work with Tony Horton and his P90X+ "kids", Traci Morrow and Mark Briggs.
What an amazing experience. It got even better when I was asked to join Tony
in 3 of the 8 Ten Minute Trainer videos, as the girl he is training. Who knew,
all those years ago when I was, "Doing Jane", that my life would lead me to
this incredible opportunity.

I am now gym membership free, but have all the buddies and help I need on
the message boards and in the other tools on the BB website.

The next part of my transformation story is two fold; using all of the BB series
and support to get in the absolute best shape of my life before I hit the big
4-0 in March of 2009 and being able to help other people reach their health
and fitness goals along the way. I can't imagine anything more rewarding
than helping other people feel better about themselves and in turn getting
more out of their lives.

So, in the end I think that this company will not only help me transform my
body and health level, but will give me the opportunity to transform my
career into one that let's me give back and help other's in some way and you
can do it too. It's a win - win!